6 Ex-High School Football Players Accuse Coach's Daughter Of Sexually Assaulting Them On Campus

Six former high school athletes in California allege in a new lawsuit that their former football athletic trainer sexually abused them while they were students over two decades ago.

The former high school football players, who were students at Colton High School in Colton, California, filed a lawsuit against Tiffany Strauss-Gordon and Colton Joint Unified School District in San Bernardino County, ABC 7 reported.

Strauss-Gordon is the daughter of legendary high school football coach Harold Strauss. She was the team's athletic trainer when her father was still calling the shots.

"This was an open secret. The high school students at Colton and their staff had a name for her sexual abuse of these children," attorney Mike Reck, who is representing the six former student-athletes alongside fellow lawyer Jemma Dunn, alleged, according to ABC 7.

In the lawsuit, the former students alleged that the sexual assaults occurred inside Colton High School's campus, including in the locker room, training room, bathrooms, weight room and football trailer.

At the time, the six students ranged in age from 14 to 17 years old.

"If the roles were reversed the story would be very different. Nobody would be questioning whether this was an assault. There would be people in jail," Dunn was quoted as saying by the outlet. "I mean there would be an uproar."

In one instance, Strauss-Gordon allegedly "took advantage" of one accuser, who was identified only as "John Doe 7042," and sexually assaulted him while she was supposed to be providing medical treatment and physical therapy, the lawsuit stated.

The behavior was allowed and referred to as "Tiffany's special treatment," lawyers for the players, who are all identified as John Does, alleged.

"A perpetrator, male or female, should not be able to leverage their position of power and their access to these children in order to sexually assault them," Reck said.

However, a lawyer for Strauss-Gordon disputed the accusations and questioned why the alleged victims are only now coming forward more than 20 years later.

Her attorney also said that his client has not been criminally charged.

"So far, no criminal charges have been filed and hopefully that means that the prosecutors do not think they have sufficient evidence to convict her of a crime," Strauss-Gordon's attorney, Paul Wallin, was quoted as saying by ABC 7.

The Colton Joint Unified School District, for its part, released a statement to KABC-TV regarding the matter.

"The District has made itself, and will continue to make itself, completely available to the Colton Police Department. The District is committed to ensuring that law enforcement has access to all of the facts and information for their investigation," the statement read in part.

As of this writing, Strauss-Gordon remains employed by the district as the athletic director at Grand Terrace High School. She is currently on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, which her attorney said by law the district had to do, the Los Angeles Times reported.